What if a bald man with a Fu Manchu decided what you got to eat every single day? Well, if you are a student at Ouachita that eats in the cafeteria for at least one meal a day, that’s you.
The office inside the Commons belongs to the Ouachita’s Executive Chef Chase Nowlin. He is in charge of planning and overseeing the meals served on a daily basis in the cafeteria and through Ouachita catering.
Nowlin went to culinary school at Pulaski Technical College and was then connected to Sodexo when Sodexo catered the wedding of one of Nowlin’s good friends. Nowlin’s friend recommended him to Sodexo, and three days later, Nowlin was hired as the Executive Chef at Ouachita. Chef Nowlin has been employed at Ouachita for three semesters now, and continues to perfect his daily routine that takes him in and out of the kitchen.
Chef Nowlin arrives at work every morning between 8 and 9 a.m. and starts with checking his emails. After that he makes a quick run through the kitchen to make sure all of the appliances are working properly.
His next task is to check on his staff. He verifies that every member is present, as well as the cooks, to make sure that lunch plans are preceding smoothly.
By 10:30 a.m. Nowlin makes a second run through to make sure that the food measures up to Sodexo’s standards.
“I tell them if it needs to be adjusted by ingredients, maybe add a little more salt, a little more pepper, things like that,” Nowlin said.
Once the lunch hour hits, Chef Nowlin moves from dining venue to dining venue, helping out in any way he can.
After lunch there is a mandatory production meeting with the staff, where they discuss the pros and cons of the meal, as well as making future plans.
Once the production meeting has come to an end, Nowlin is responsible for doing an inventory check and placing an order for more of any ingredients needed.
After inventory is up to date, the dinner rush is upon the cafeteria. A similar routine for dinner is performed following lunch, in helping out with the grill, international line and deli.
After dinner is complete, Chef Nowlin oversees the close down of the kitchen, and is usually headed home anywhere from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The Executive Chef is essential to the everyday running of the kitchen, and though only 50 percent of his day consists of hands-on cooking, without him, there would be no food on the table.
Nowlin loves the job, saying, “the people that we have here are really hard workers. It has become like a little family.”
Jonathan Williamson, a current employee of Sodexo under Nowlin’s leadership said in regard to Chef Nowlin, “He was very good at making new employees feel at home with the company and has helped me tremendously with the starting-out process.”
A big part of the reason that Chef Nowlin values this job so much is his opportunity to interact with college students on a daily basis.
“I love the students. It’s fun. I’m not really old, and I’m not as young as the students, but I feel like I kinda hold on to my youth a little bit there,” he said.
He went on to say that he loves the feedback that he gets from the students, as well as the fresh ideas for potential new meals to be served.
Nowlin commented that Sodexo has many plans for this upcoming semester, and some of them are being currently implemented.
“We now have a pasta bar on Mondays that serves both whole wheat pasta as well as regular pasta . . . . We are also looking to do more buffets throughout the semester as well,” Nowlin said.
Chef Nowlin concluded his statements with expressing how much he thoroughly enjoys his job at Ouachita. His hard work and dedication allows the students of Ouachita to be excited to hear the words, “Dinner is served!”
